68 Comments

Phil

March 31, 2009 at 2:52 pm

I really hope they don’t get Sheffield. That would leave us with 3 outfielders and I guess Bruntlett and Dobbs sometimes. Stairs and Sheffield really can’t play the OF anymore. Sheffield is also a cancer. Just let Cairo take the bench spot.

I’m surprised they didn’t cut Stairs, just for the fact that he’s older and Jenkis makes more and therefore would have been harder to just release. I’d rather see them bring Mayberry up than take a chance on Sheffield, but I have to think that Ruben and the rest of the FO know what they’re doing.

Yea that would be good pub, don’t get me wrong i really like Jenkins and he’s a very classy guy i just knew if it meant having him or stairs in a roster spot that they’d choose Stairs for his power, if they just needed a hit that’s what Dobbs is for and i guess that’s what they see in Dobbs that Jenkins is a similar player but of course Dobbs isn’t going anywhere.

“Sheffield was hitting .178 (8-for-45) with three homers and five RBIs this spring. He walked 13 times for a .387 on-base percentage, but had a .378 slugging percentage. He also hit .225 with 19 homers and 57 RBIs in 418 at-bats last season, when he played just six games in the outfield.”

I’d rather them have Cairo in than Mayberry. Cairo can steal and our pinch running is kind of thin outside of Bruntlett. Cairo can also play every position besides catcher and pitcher. He is also a RH bat.

Sheffield is the type of guy you get late in the season to bolster your bench/lineup… I do not want to see him with the Phils for a full season… I prefer Jenkins over him, despite his lefty bat, cause Jenkins can at least play some defense… I do not want to see Matt Stairs or Sheffield fielding. We are taking a pretty decent risk with Ibañez on the field already.

Sure, we could have him for 400,000 or so, but this is the type of move that will come back and bite us in the a**.

Why would you not want gary sheffield? This would IMMEDIATELY become the most feared offense in the NL. Who do you think an opposing team wants to face off the bench… Gary Sheffield or Miguel Cairo? I understand he’s an asshole, but the argument that he would be a cancer is quite irrelevant.

I actually think sheffield is a good idea…The fact of him being a cancer definitely is irrelevant because he has been released…so We would have to pay him nothing to play here….HE wont be an everyday player…so He can’t “contaminate”….He was just released so hopefully he realizes that he needs to step his game up and since he is a grizzled veteran….he should come to realize this…and this will also hopefully take away some of his ‘tude…He is a cheap low risk/high reward option…Why not take shot with him…worst come to worst…we release him early on for barely a penalty..

mike, he’s no longer the Gary Sheffield we were used to. His BA has been dropping considerably since 2006 (.225 in 2008) AND that was getting 114 games. He will NOT get nearly as many games with the Phils, primarily because he’s 40 (FORTY) and you don’t want him on the field under any circumstance… he would be a pinch hitter almost 100% of the time, getting very few ABs with the Phils, and his stats will probably reflect that and keep going down.

I much rather have Mayberry instead of him. What if one of our OFs gets injured? Who will play now? Jenkins has been released. Do you seriously want to see Sheffield and/or Stairs out there? NOT ME.

I say: Let’s forget the lust and appeal that comes with the Gary Sheffield name and his 499 homers, and go with the guy who should be next in line if Werth, Vic, Ibañez get injured.

Don M.-That’s my point, but with Sheffield, it’s more of who are you getting? Is it the guy who has something to prove and will have no problem coming off of the bench? Or will it be the Sheffield that fought with teammates, managers, etc., the guy who will bitch about playing time, the distraction? That’s why I don’t want him, becuase every move a team makes is taking a risk, but he’s just too big of a risk to deal with while trying ti repeat.

Wow the Phils are just eating salary and with the amount of minor league deals the team dished out going into ST I think the book is being slammed shut on reaching on 2nd tier free agents. You look at the core of the secondary players on this team; Werth, Feliz, Durbin, Romero, Moyer, Bruntlett, Dobbs, Coste, Eyre, Condrey… So much of this team is made up with guys picked up at costs.

Am very surprised the Phils aren’t rolling the dice with Jenkins this year but hey less is more and I’m not going to say no to Sheffy or a RHB with pop like Frank Thomas at costs. I believe in the strength of this team now and I don’t believe a guy on the bench playing for his legacy can hurt the team unless they are expected to be a bigger part of the team

The guy couldn’t even handle being on the Yankee’s bench, what makes you think he’ll handle being on ANY bench. Thats what happens when you are an a-hole. Once the talent is gone, the interest is gone. Plus exactly what PhillyGirlInMichigan said…..he just opens his mouth to hear the sound of his voice. How well would him saying a controversial statement in Philly go? Can’t imagine that it wouldn’t be at least some distraction. This team should go into the season with what they have and figure out during the season if they need any extra parts to complete the puzzle. The team is pretty good as I see it and I see nothing but downside with a guy like Sheffield.

Don M- Majewski surely doesn’t have any options left but can be sent to Leigh Valley because of his deal. There’s no way Taschner has options, a guy who’s been with the Giants organisation for more than 3 years in never going to have options considering their prospects go up and down like a pornstar.

Majewski was signed to a minor league contract so he can be optioned to the minors, Taschner i’m still unsure of because no one has said one way or another. My crazy prediction for the 25 man roster is :

I have Mosebach making the team mainly because he’s a Rule V and from what i hear the Phils are high on his stuff to be a reliever in this league and if they offer him up to the Angels they’d snatch him back. But he could be replaced with Majewski or another outfielder if they wanted to carry 11 pitchers instead of 12.

Sheffield has spent the last 6 months doing nothing but trying to hit HRs. While the longball is great, he got out way too much. His average this spring was .178 and his average last year was .228. Who needs him? I would much rather see Jenkins or one of the young guys given a spot.

NICE! they are NOT screwing around…eaton & jenkins both gone! thats the smart move too, let the guy get a new start and dont keep him in purgatory. this lets them either bring mayberry back up or go out and bring in a guy liek josh willingham or sheffield.

^Don M- The reason Jenkins got the boot was exactly because he and Stairs aren’t the same player. Jenkins is a former every day guy who can play the field, hit over the course of a season and come up with some consistent pop. Stairs with his much smaller skillset and age has stayed around in this league because of his ability to hit off the bench and spell in the outfield.

Stairs was expendable because of his low salary but his role is defined, I guess the Phils realised Jenkins wasn’t going to be able to re-mould himself to a part-time player who could be a force pinch-hitting so stomaching the cost of releasing knowing we’ll at least have him picked up by someone on a minor league deal gives a real chance to get that elusive rh bench bat or go into the season with a bullpen as strong as the yankees bank balance.

I liked jenkins he was a team player…. I never really took a good look at him til I wachted the phillies season dvd n saw everything he did he won us like 6 games n was always on the top step congrating every1 when they came back in the dugout…. He brought energy into the team when they looked like they needed it. That hit in game 5 was unreal I was there I never heard or felt the stadium roar like ever before…. I will always be a jenkins fan where ever he signs.. Good luck geoff wherever u go and thank you

Just thinking Pat Gillick should write a book called ‘how I pulled a championship out my ass’, his deals look like a long list of hangovers yet he was incremental in putting together a championship team jus the way he did in Toronto. For all we spent on Eaton and Jenkins we have to look at what was saved on the guys brough in to play for a virtually nothing.

Thanks Geoff for hitting that double off the wall in game five and why not take a shot on Sheff……….he will come cheap if he does not pan out cut him and then bring up Mayberry……………we will talk about this and more on the first Father and Son philly sports talk show check us out at http://wifi1460am.com and click on listen live tonight 7 to 9 pm

Id rather have Jenkins than Sheff anyday of the week. Sheff is a scum bag and a me first guy. Maybe Amaro things guys like JRoll and Utley can keep him at bay but I doubt it. Good for Park, hopefully he makes the most of it. Can we just give the bullpen jobs to Majewski and Taschner and be done with it?

Jenkins wasn’t a great fit here… I’ll never forget Jenkins fist-pumping on second base to open game 5, part 2. The move made little sense to us at the time. Everyone in the stadium was thinking, “Why are they going with Jenkins?” Of course, he proved us all wrong with one memorable swing.

Hopefully, someone will take a flyer on him and eat a little bit of that salary. One thing is for sure, we have done a poor job picking big name veteran role players: Jenkins, Eaton, Garcia… I’ll pass on Sheffield, the big name veteran role player.

For every bad veteran role player I can think of atleast one good one. Romero, Eyre, Werth(he was signed as a role player). Not saying we have excellent success in this area but the Phillies or more correctly, Gillick was probably on par with everyone else. Afterall, we did win the world series last year. Seems like the guys we paid a lot for all sucked but the guys we throw pennies at, they all do well.

I could care less about seeing him hit his 500th.. but the fact that he has that many shows he’s a power hitter.. and the fact that his career avg. is .292 shows he can hit more than just HRs.

He was injured the past seasons in Detroit, and I think they wanted to get younger.. guys like him, Pudge, Polanco, Magglio, Guillen.. they weren’t young.

Gillick is still an advisor with the team, and Amaro talks to him before making moves.. they wouldn’t have released Jenkins if they didn’t have something else in the works.

Maybe that move is Cairo?… But the fact that they’ve said they contacted Sheffield lets you know that is the guy they want.. and they want everyone to know how bad they want him, hoping that will sway him their way (not down by the bay, or in the hay)

Poor Geoff Jenkins, I liked the guy, he didn’t put up the numbers that evrybody was used to him putting up but I think that hit in the world series made him feel a part of the team. Oh well not anymore.

Happy trails to you…thanks for the game five smoke to the warning track!

I’m with you Gary B. re releasing Jenkins. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I realize how shocked I am by this move. We gave him the same treatment as Adam Eaton! Ah! Disgusting. Seriously, we’re giving up on a guy who had a below-average year, but who can still play good baseball. We gave a guy like Eaton (a d-bag) way too many chances –and THEN we release him—, but we give up on Jenkins (a clubhouse guy, a good player overall who brings a positive attitude) before the 2009 season even starts. Wow.

I can see it now. 5 nights before he blasts his 500th homer in Philly, he opens his mouth to the media saying something that stirs the pot AND becomes in the only player in baseball history to be BOO-ed in his home ballpark after he hits his 500th homerun and has his ball thrown back onto the field by the home team fans…

Signing Sheffield is a NO LOSE proposition. You can start him in LF and RF and can play 3rd in a pinch. You can start him twice a week. You don’t have to pay him. If he turns out to be a cancer you let him go. Whats the problem? You don’t like 17hrs and 47rbis in 300 abs?

I would entertain the idea of Sheffield if I were the FO too. Listen, Gary is old and declining and its time he should realize this. If we’re his only interest right now, then why not take it? He would have a shot at number 500 in a hitters park. It should come quick, even pinch hitting. Plus, we’re a contender. A legit contender. Would he rather play for a lowly team and get the chance to tire out playing the field or enjoy one of his last years in the majors pinch hitting for a team that will be in it? Time to mature, Gary.

I am on the fence with Shef,
I am sad for Jenkins, but he was paid a lot of money to be the regular RF and he is not and was not able to be a great role player. Yes he was a great clubhouse guy, but we need specific roles now. I understand keeping Stairs over him. Stairs is your power off the bench for a lefty, we have none for a righty. Dobbs is your complete bench player, Bruntlett is your defensive specialist with average to below average hitting.( had a great spring though) Coste is your backup catcher, Shef would be a nice fit in there, If an everyday player goes down in the outfield you bring up Mayberry to play.

I think the clubhouse is tight and has plenty of strong personalities like Rollins, Utley, Howard, Ibanez, Moyer, Myers, Lidge. We are fine there Sheff is probably a win- win if he doesn’t pan out you chuck him to the curb and bring someone up.